Muslims who participate in this act of violence create mass terror. I believe that the idea of killing one’s self is so terrific to the American culture because of the dominant religion Christianity, in which we are told it is a sin against god for some one to take their own life. As I am not part of this Martyrdom culture I do not understand why some one would want to take their life. How does a fourteen-year-old boy know that blowing himself up is the best path for him to take when he hasn’t lived out his life?
The use of child suicide bombers appears to be increasing, and while many children are educated and reared into this deadly fate, many are thankfully saved or removed before their actions have deadly consequences. Many have seen the images of infants and toddlers dressed in mock suicide bomber outfits in Palestine, and while they may not commit such acts when they grow-up, their fate is one undoubtedly leaning towards violence.
Though we are allies with the Israeli government, we must note that in their conflict, it is not only the Palestinians who wreak violence on their enemy. The feud that has been going on between Israel and Palestine for many years has become sort of a vendetta system. When a Jew attacks a Muslim, the Muslims retaliate, and so begins the on going cycle.
That was shocking. I never knew that they had child bombers as young as 14. Thank you for sharing. That was very enlightening and informative.
ReplyDeleteThis was such an interesting post, looking at how often these types of occurrences happen in the Middle East I think its important to know the other side's perspective. I liked that you explained how the people who do these view this act of terror as martyrdom rather than a suicide mission. I think anyone hearing that they will be involved in a suicide mission would be terrified, but this crime is seen as justifiable in the name of Allah so "true" terrorists are accepting of these "missions." This was a very interesting point.
ReplyDeleteWow... you are right about the fact that suicide bombing shocks Americans! The odd think is, that as you said, suicide itself is seen as a sin in Islam, too. As far as I know, some of the other very violent groups come from a very strict sect of Sunni Islam called Wahhabism. But I need to look more into that... that may have also been where the Taliban got some of its ideas... but don't quote me on that!
ReplyDeleteSuicide in any circumstance is always a last resort. I think the key thing to try to figure out is: what are the conditions that make a people feel so helpless that the only option is suicide?
ReplyDeleteI am troubled by the video you linked at "Martyrdom Culture" because it suggests that suicides are a cultural or religious act. I think that is profoundly wrong. Arab culture and the Koran are very clearly opposed to suicide. What are the political, military, and economic circumstances that bring about suicide attacks? Until that is understood and addressed, it will not stop.
The picture is very effective in getting your message across. I was shocked to learn that children are brought up in this lifestyle, but I suppose that it is identical of the neo-Nazi groups who raise their children to believe that Aryans are still the superior race. Very interesting post!!
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